Mills River festival to celebrate corn, community

Published: Thursday, July 24, 2014 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, July 23, 2014 at 11:39 p.m.

With juicy barbecue, fresh watermelon and live bluegrass music, the Mills River Community Development Association will host its first Sweet Corn Festival from 4-8 p.m. Saturday at Mills River Community Center.

The event, a benefit for the center on School House Road, is free and open to the public. Barbecue dinner plates with beans, corn, watermelon and coleslaw will be $10 for adults and $5 for children.

“This year we're just starting out, so we're trying to do a fundraiser for the Community Association to pay our bills and so forth,” said Jollene Austin, president of the Community Development Association, which manages the center.

Autsin said she hopes the festival can become a tradition for Mills River, celebrating one of the crops it's famous for.

“We want the community to come together and enjoy our natural resource, which is sweet corn, and a lot of faith and fellowship in a great little Western North Carolina town,” Austin said. “We've got face painting for the kids, a couple of bluegrass bands, a dunking booth—we're just looking forward to it.”

Austin said the Community Development Association has had a lot of fun planning for the festival over the last six months and hopes to expand it to a two-day event similar to Apple Festival next year.

“A lot of work has gone into it and again we really have to expand it next year,” Austin said.

<p>With juicy barbecue, fresh watermelon and live bluegrass music, the Mills River Community Development Association will host its first Sweet Corn Festival from 4-8 p.m. Saturday at Mills River Community Center.</p><p>The event, a benefit for the center on School House Road, is free and open to the public. Barbecue dinner plates with beans, corn, watermelon and coleslaw will be $10 for adults and $5 for children.</p><p>“This year we're just starting out, so we're trying to do a fundraiser for the Community Association to pay our bills and so forth,” said Jollene Austin, president of the Community Development Association, which manages the center.</p><p>Autsin said she hopes the festival can become a tradition for Mills River, celebrating one of the crops it's famous for.</p><p>“We want the community to come together and enjoy our natural resource, which is sweet corn, and a lot of faith and fellowship in a great little Western North Carolina town,” Austin said. “We've got face painting for the kids, a couple of bluegrass bands, a dunking booth—we're just looking forward to it.”</p><p>Austin said the Community Development Association has had a lot of fun planning for the festival over the last six months and hopes to expand it to a two-day event similar to Apple Festival next year.</p><p>“A lot of work has gone into it and again we really have to expand it next year,” Austin said.</p><p>___</p><p>Reach Bindewald at renee.bindewald@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7890.</p>